Improvement in apparatus for rectifying



WATERS & .HARNETT.

Alcohol Still.'

No. 20.967. Patented my 2o.. 1858..

N. PETERSA Plmw-Umngnpmr. www c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

G. VV'JVllSliSA hXl) J'.\\"'. HA'RNETT, OF CINCINNATI, OHIOs IMPROVEMENT IN APPARATUS ForiA RECTIFYING.

Siwedcation forming parl of' Letters Patent No. 20,967, dated July-Q0, .1858.

` lllaniilton conntaglate oi' Ohio, liaveinventf ed a new and usclnl `linprored])istilling Apparatus I'or the Manufacture ot' \Vl1isky, Al-

' cohol, and all bpiritnons Liquors by continuons and sellregulaiingdistillation, and we do herebyA declare that the following is a full and exactdescription thereof, to wit:

llt is wcllknown that (,oll'eys is generally Considered, at least, in llngland und in this counlny, to. be the best adapted l'or general .manufact uring purposes ol' all apparatusesdcsigned to carry out the great principleof coutinuons'distillati-ion. For thel salie .ot brevity and clearness,we shall therefore begin by sayingv that ours iskhsigned to remedy th'e following inconvynienees und defects iu Cofi'eys apparatus, namely: First, in Coilifys apparatus the separatiiig-plates in bot-h columns, except a t'ew inthe topot the spirit-column, are al-l pertorated, and these perforations in the beer-column plates are very liable" to, and' ol'tendo, becnme'c'losed by the glutinons matter contained in the wort, thus inilmiringthe working power oi' the apparatus, obstructing the distillation, andat last compelling the operator to suspend the work and open,1 )erhaps, all the compartments in the whole column bel'ore he can discover the point at which the stoppage has tuigen place-a great objection even where the wort is strained, asin England, but an insuperable one where the whole mash passes into the still, as is the custom in this country; second, another objection 'to these pmlorations is,'in case the steanrfrom any at any time during the .operation be eut ii'iulistilled wort in the whole column must l1 through these holes into the bottom and belost with the slop or ret'use 1natter;-third,

'(-olilgys apparatusrequires a large amount uilboilri -spnee lol insure a large supply oi' l'tnv-lin'essnre steam, the 'necessity ot' which' low pressure arises from the l'act that the principle of dist itl-lation 'requires the temperature of the wort lo belwpt` at `l'rom 169 to 1760 Fahrenheiuwhi'rh cnn be obtained only by using the sll: iin-ut-.t he low pressure oi' from tive to seven trim er `opter seyen') pounds-to thesquare inch; l'ou ith, Col'teys apparat us requires an extra or rom the beer-column, all the spirit-vapor reserve condenserconnected with the top of the spirit-colnmn, to condense the spirit-vapor in ease the cooling powerot' the condensing portion of the lme ,1'-pipes from accident or otherwise should become insntiicient to complete its condensation, aiulthis condenser could not be dispensed'with by cutting ofi' the steam from the beer-colrunn in ease ol' an accident ot' this kind, because, as stated above, (2) the contents ot' the beer-column would thence run to waste in theslop; 1it'th,' in Golfeys the liquid in the beer-column isprevented from falling` through the perforations,and compelled to overllow through the drop-pipes by meeting a sullieient quantity and pressure ofsteam, and `hence a certain and considerable speedof distillation, which in (Jodeys apparatusis its full capacity, is absolutely necessary, Whereas it isolten :ulvantageons to be able to run a much less thanthe usual amount per day withont being obliged to break the continuous operation of the work; sixth, i-n Working Goti feys.apparatus. the operator has no iminedif ate warning ofthe excess or deiiciency in the relative proportions ot ascending steam -and descending beer, but must wait until this is indicated by the gages. These are the chief inconveniences' and defects'in Ooieys apparatus, the best hitherto in use.

\Ve will now briefly set forth some ol` the advantages o f our improvement.

First; .By the substitution of solid for per- Afoi-ated plates or sheetstin the beer-column,

we prevent all possibility Ol' any obstruction in the working` of this column on account of the thickness ot' the musln No matter what the consistency o t' the beer, or how great the quantityot' meal grains, orvother residunm embodied with the wort may be, a free passage of ascending steam and descending ,beerl other accident, thus obviating the first defect noticed in Cotteys apparatus, and supplying a great. want.

Second. By the use of the exhaust-steam regulatorwe ai-'eenabled ,to regulate,- utilize, and control the steam to a uniform pressure, destroying the intermittent puffs, and securing a steady supply of low pressure with nn- 2B come? deviatin'g precision, the necessity of which lowpressure is indicated in second objection to Coffeys. The great utility of this 'steam-re# ceptacle 'must be patent to all at a glance. l. The economizing of 'steam and fuel is a great desideratum. With this plan the fuel will cost absolutely nothing, as the exhaust-steam alone of an engine capable of doing the work of a distillery would be suiiicient to work the whole apparatus for the capacity of the house. 2. The cost of the receiver would be but a trilie. It could be made of wood or heavy .sheet-iron, thus saving'the expense of large boilers and boiler-space.

Third. By our arrangement we can accommodate the capacity of any given-sizedv apparatus' to any less capacity-say, an apparatusis capable of ruiming two thousand gallons of beer perhour, and it is desired to run continuously any less quantity, say, two hundred, the only change necessary is to use so much ste'am as will heat the quantity of beer required to be operated uponthus combining in one apparatus what can be represented in Goteysonly by several. The advantages of this feature are incalculable, as no distillery in this country,'especially no large one, is ever in a situation to rununiformly'during a whole season up to its full capacity.

Fourth. By the use of the whistle-valves, in the event of neglect or the temporary absence of the operator, or in the case of any alteration in the due relative proportions of beer to steam, or vice versa, these valves send forth their notes of alarm, instinct with life itself, calling for the attention of the operator.

instituting compasons between Colleys .apparatus and our own improved one must, for brevityls sake, be limited to this last, leav-- ing, unnoticed minor points. Llhus it will be seen that our apparatus is self-regulating in the strictest sense of the term. These whistie-valves, like watchmen, give instant alarm at the approach ci' danger, and place the aetion oi" the process. alike beyond the reach of accident and the carelessness of nien.

To enable others skilled in the art to construct an apparatus, we give the following, reference being had to the'annexed drawings, making a part' oi' this description, in whichy Figure 1 is a perpendicular sectiomFig. 2, a sectional view of column B; Fig. 3, a sec` tional view of column A; and Fig. 4, with rei'- `erences, a front elevation of the sampleglasses. v

Beer-column A is divided into twenty-two chambers by sheets marked u. The sheets thus marked are each furnished with droppipes d and vapor-pipes@ e e, whose termi-nations are below the level of the oriiices of the drop-pipes d. Spirit-column B is divided into thirty-three compartments by sheets b. Twenty-six of these are perforated and furnished with drop-pipes c and valves jl Seven sheets in the' upper part of column B have simply perforations g reversed in successive order, i'or the purpose of directing the vapor through the whole length of pipes b, inserted to the number of four coiled lengths, extending from the back of each chamber to a distance to enable workmen to flange them together out` l side. Through the pipes-h a constant stream of beer or wort is forced by the pump which charges and supplies the whole apparatus.

Thev supplyl may be regulated either bythe speed of the power that works the punipj or by means of a returnLpipe, Z, branching out ot' handhaving a stop-cock, m. The beer is dischargedinto the top of column Aat a te1nperature of about 180 liahrenheit,v and vapor of spirit 'rising at 169 to 1760, while vapor of water'at not less than 212, the former yields much more readily to the action oi' steam, which comes into immediate contact with the wortat this point7 and, thus the spirit-vapor becomesdisengaged from the aqueous matter, and' 'is directed through pipe L into the lower chamber of column B, where it is forced through the perforated sheets, v becomingl stronger as it ascends, and likewise heating the pipes containing the beer in their passage through the chambers tillit 'reaches the spiritcollector N, when, coming in contact with the cooling-pipes above that point, it becomes condensed-and is drawn ori at cock o. rihis vapor in its passage upward heats the beer in the condensing-pipes b; but the beer, being continuously displaced by the action of the pump J, maintains the equilibrium of the condensing power. The t'eints7 and essential oils, being oi greater gravity than the fine spirit, are returned 'from sheet to sheet through the drop-pipes c and siphon S into the'ieintsreceiver T, whence, by the pump U, through pipe V, they are returned into the top charm ber of column A, to be operated upon by the steam, The contents of each sheet in this" 'i manner are operated upon as -inany times as there are sheets in the column, and before the beer reaches the bottom sheets, whence it is drawn oil' by the action of siphon S, it is deprived of the last particle of spirit which it contained. From the lower chamber a small pipe, y, is continued to the sample-condenser, (indicated at Fig. 4: by No. 3,) showing a sam-l ple of what is passing through the beer-column at any moment during 'the continuance of the process. There' is also a branch of this pipe y connecting with a mercurial gage', x, which indicates the pressureof steam in the column and its condition generally. e is another gage to indicate the condition of column E; also, a branch from the same gives a sample of the spirit that is running into the refrigerator. (Indicated at Fig. 4 by No. 1.)'l Pipe o o conveys asample of the spirit that is running fromthe spirit-collector N', and tlows into sample-glass No. l. Pipe g iiows into glass marked No. 2. 'r is discharged through No. 3. it i" are beads of glass, the globes of which are'made hollow, and the stem secures their proper action. These beads are prepared and marked with the number of the proof they haveto represent,l and three or four of them, arranged some above and below the required proof, show at a glance what proof is running. When thespirit is as highaproof as a bead is marked, it immediately sinks. Should the spirit be running too'fast, the proof falls, and the beadinstantly rises to the surface. Glass N o. 3 is arranged in a similar manner. Glass No. 2 should always show water, and has only one bead, which is so adjusted that it shall float in water; but should there be e'ven one per cent. of spirit it sinks to the bottom of the glass, and of course indicates that spirit is passing away with the slop, and silently, but iinperatively demands the attention of` the operator to its investigation. On the top of each column .we place a curiously-constructed oontrivance which we des-` ignate whistle-valves, which act thus: Should the steam-power obtain a preponderance, the. valige on column B- opens outward,

and that whistle sounds its note of alarm until th-e derangenient be regulated. Should the beer-supply obtain the ascendency, thevalve of column A opens inward in consequence of vacuunnaud whistles in like manner, in either case directing the attention oi the operator to remedial measures.v

rlhe steam-regulator K nia-y be of any desired forni or dimensions p roportionate to y the capacity of the apparatus.

The modus operandi is' thus: The pipes in the spirit-column B being charged, steam is admit-ted fronrtlie regulator, or from a common boiler, or both together, into the beer-column- A, whence it will pass into column B through the Vapor-pipe L, and heat the pipes h k lzy h as high as the spirit-collector N. The pump j is then set in motion and the supply regulated as described above.

' XVe do not of course claim the principle of continuous distillation, nor any'of the Various modes by which Pistorious, Derosne, Coffey, and others have rendered its practical application more and more simple and easily regulated. Neither do we 'claim the beer and spirit columns, or the general arrangement and Inode of operating Coffey7 s apparatus; but

XVe claim as our invention-` 1. The use of solid plates with bent pipes,or their equivalents, insteadpof perforated plates in the beer-column, in thefmanner and for'the purposes set forth.

2. The use ot' the exhaust-steam regulator in distillation, by this or other apparatus, whereby steam of any degree of tension may be taken from the boiler and reduced to any less desired. uniform pressure, and whereby the exhauststeain from engines may be regulated in like manner, using the exhaust-steain and steam from boilers together-or separately, as may be desired, in the manner and for the purposes set forth.

3. The combination of 'the beer and spirit columns with the exhaust-steam regulator, with or without the whistle-valves acting as described, and for the purposes set forth.

GARDNER VATERS. JOHN VARREN HARNETT. Witnesses:

JOHN A. HOOK, W. S. RosnoRANs. 

